Oscar-nominated screenwriter arrested in Iran days after criticising regime | World News

One of the screenwriters of an Oscar-nominated film has been arrested in Tehran days after signing a statement condemning Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime’s violent crackdown on protesters.

Mehdi Mahmoudian, who co-wrote the script for the Iranian drama It Was Just An Accident, was arrested on Saturday, representatives of the film said in a statement. It is unclear what he is charged with.

In the statement, Mahmoudian and 16 others wrote: “The mass and systematic killing of citizens who bravely took to the streets to bring an end to an illegitimate regime constitutes an organised state crime against humanity.”

Among the signatories were journalist Vida Rabbani and human rights activist Abdullah Momeni, who were also arrested.

Mahmoudian’s arrest comes just weeks before the Academy Awards in March, where It Was Just An Accident is nominated for best screenplay and best international film.

It Was Just An Accident was filmed covertly in Iran and was inspired by director Jafar Panahi’s most recent stint in prison, where he met Mahmoudian. He said his co-writer was “a pillar” to other prisoners.

Panahi, who also signed the statement criticising the Iranian regime, condemned Mahmoudian’s arrest.

He said the screenwriter was “a rare moral presence… whose absence is immediately felt, both inside the prison walls and beyond them”.

One of the most acclaimed international filmmakers, Panahi has made films through various states of imprisonment, house arrest and travel ban.

Last year, he was again sentenced to a year in prison for “propaganda activities against the system”. Despite the sentence, Panahi, who has been travelling internationally to promote the film, said he will return to Iran.

The director previously spoke out about the recent crackdown on protesters by the Iranian government, calling it a “savage massacre”.

Estimates from human rights organisations and doctors on the number of people who were killed in the deadly protests range from over 5,000 at the conservative end to 33,000 by one count, and even as high as 50,000, according to one unverified claim.